Random in all the wrong ways, Carlos Saldanha’s Harold and the Purple Crayon will play best for the youngest of audiences. That’s because anyone over the age of, oh, say 10, will find it to be a rather charmless chore to get through. And while it does start off on the right foot with a nicely animated recap of the book it’s based on, it quickly delves into complete random nonsense. There’s an awkwardness to it all, this thanks to the clunkiest of pacing and humor-challenged “jokes.” The shoehorned librarian villain is also a misguided misfire if there ver was one. And, I couldn’t help but think that they really wanted this film to be like 2003's Elf (right down to the Zooey Deschanel casting). But, with a surprisingly lame semblance of imagination on display and an annoying man-child performance from Zachary Levi, it doesn’t hold a candle to the Will Ferrell-starring holiday classic. Ok, ok, maybe I’m being a little harsh here. After all, it’s got a good message around being yourself and never letting go of creativity – something I can definitely get behind. And, as mentioned, young kids will for sure find some fun in it. But, the effects heavy and narrative messy execution is going to leave a lot of people wishing Harold and the Purple Crayon had gone back to the drawing board.